


Our Wishes Are Like Tinder

by dragonwings948



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Nightmares, Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:54:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25121962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonwings948/pseuds/dragonwings948
Summary: Charley has a nightmare about the R101 and asks the Doctor for the truth about her fate.
Relationships: Eighth Doctor & Charley Pollard
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	Our Wishes Are Like Tinder

_Her heart in her throat. Terror heightening every sense. Knowing that at any moment she would be dead._

_It was hot, too hot. Charley Pollard tried to move, but it was as if invisible restraints were wrapped around her, keeping her from taking even one step._

_Screams surrounded her. Charley struggled. She knew very well that she didn’t have anywhere to run, but she couldn’t simply just stand there and do nothing while she waited for the inevitable crash._

_“Charley!”_

_A voice called her name—the Doctor! How could she have forgotten the Doctor? He was suddenly there beside her, and though her mind screamed at him to leave so he wouldn’t share her fate, something completely different came out of her mouth:_

_“Will it hurt?”_

The sudden lack of warmth and freedom of her limbs woke Charley from her dream. She blinked rapidly, trying to focus on the concerned face hovering over her.

“Charley,” the Doctor sighed, his eyes soft with compassion. He held a blanket in his hands, the same blanket Charley had curled up with earlier.

She suddenly remembered that she had accidentally dozed off on the couch in the library while listening to the Doctor read. As she regained her wits and looked about her, the towering bookshelves and the dying embers of a fire told her she was still there.

“Are you all right?”

Charley rubbed a hand over her eyes, trying to shake off the sleepiness. A fog remained over her mind; clearly, she hadn’t slept for long enough. “It was just a nightmare.”

“Tell me about it,” the Doctor said gently, sitting on the other end of the couch by her feet. He balled up the blanket in his hands and placed it in his lap as he looked at her in expectation.

Charley shuddered as she recalled her dream. She looked past the Doctor, unable to meet his eyes. “I was on the R101 just as it was about to crash. I was scared.”

“Are you still scared?”

She couldn’t help but meet his gaze when he used that serious tone of voice. She had to admit that it was a worry in the back of her mind—the growing fear that this life with the Doctor was nothing more than a dream itself, an extended life she got to live before she had to go back to her inevitable death.

“Will you tell me the truth?” she countered, avoiding his question.

He shifted, the crease between his eyebrows betraying concern. “Of course I will.”

“Am I going to die on the R101? Will you have to put me back?”

“Charley,” he murmured sadly. He reached out as if to take her hand, but Charley curled her body into her corner of the couch. For once, she didn’t want his comforting touch. She needed answers.

“Tell me.”

He looked hurt by her refusal and Charley reminded herself to give him a great big hug later. He stared down at his hands and delicately placed the blanket in between them like a peace offering.

He didn’t answer at first. Several seconds of silence ticked by. Uneasiness twisted in Charley’s gut. To her chagrin, tears stung her eyes. Of course she had guessed at her fate, but to hear the Doctor proclaim it would be like setting it in stone.

When he finally spoke, Doctor’s voice was so soft that Charley could barely hear it. “I won’t let that happen to you.”

It wasn’t a complete answer. “What if you had to? What if the…Web of Time, or something, demanded it?”

“I won’t.” His eyes flashed up to meet hers, full of fire and determination. She was taken aback at the sudden passion in his voice. “Charley, do you hear me? I won’t do it. I _can’t.”_

Charley tried to wrap her head around what that truly meant—that he’d sacrifice time and the universe just to keep her alive? That couldn’t be right.

“You don’t need to worry,” he continued, quieter. He stood, picked up the blanket, and draped it over her.

Charley met his eyes and tried to read what was within them. He still hadn’t really answered her question. She had asked if he would _have_ to put her back, and he had only said that he _wouldn’t_ do it; like a petulant child set in his ways.

Apparently he could see the sceptism in her expression, because he leaned down, bracing himself on the arm of the couch. “Do you trust me, Charley?”

She considered everything they had been through, all of the times he had saved her and countless others. It wasn’t a question she really had to consider. “Yes.”

“Good.” His features softened and he smiled. “Now get some rest.”

She considered pressing him further, but she _did_ trust him, and she was still rather sleepy. “Will you read to me again?” She pulled the blanket tighter around herself and grinned up at him.

“You fell asleep after the first chapter.” He tried to sound accusatory, but the brightness in his eyes and the smile still on his lips completely betrayed him.

“Well, this time I’ll get to hear chapter two at least.”

“All right.” He turned and walked over to his chair by the fireplace, where _Agnes Grey_ and a pair of reading glasses lay. He picked them up, seemed to hesitate, and then went back to the couch. Charley smiled as he settled down on the opposite end and put on his glasses. She thought they looked rather silly and wondered if he really needed them or if he just liked putting them on.

The Doctor suddenly met her gaze. “What is it? You’re smiling.”

Charley pressed her lips together to try and hide it. “Nothing.”

As the Doctor began reading in his smooth, deep voice, Charley tried to settle down but found that she had been lying in the same position for so long that it was now uncomfortable. She got onto her knees and turned her body around, scooting backwards until she leaned against the Doctor’s side.

The Doctor paused mid-sentence. “Charley?”

“Just getting comfortable.” She rearranged her blanket and finally felt perfectly cosy. Her eyelids drooped closed.

The Doctor pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “Sweet dreams, Charley.”

What Charley felt then was impossible to describe; something like love and comfort and home all wrapped up into something too difficult to name when she was half-asleep. She nuzzled her cheek against the Doctor’s velvet jacket as he started reading again.

This time, she slept easily.


End file.
